MacBook 15" (2017) - Battery Charging Problem
Checking your charging status within macOS
macOS provides a great deal of information about your power usage. To access this follow these steps:
Go to Apple > About This Mac
Click on the System Report... button
In the left pane under the Hardware heading, select Power (it's about 2/3 of the way down)
On the right-hand side, scroll down to view the AC Charger Information
- This will show you whether it's connected to a charger, the amount of wattage it's receiving, and if it's currently charging or not
Typically for your model MBP it should show about 85W/86W when connected to an Apple 87W USB-C Power Adapter. Assuming you're getting this figure, you should be right in terms of your charge rate.
As for the figure in coconutBattery, remember:
- this will vary depending on how much load the MBP is currently under
- it's not a reflection of the total wattage as most will be used by your MBP for its power requirements
If you're not seeing near the 85W/86W, then read on.
I know you've stated that you've already reset the SMC, but I'd do both a NVRAM and SMC reset (in that order). Before following the steps below, ensure you have no external hardware connected and that you're using the built-in keyboard.
Reset the NVRAM
Reset the NVRAM on your MBP as follows:
- Shut down your MBP. That is, a full shut down, not just logging out.
- Press the power button and then press the commandoptionpr keys. You have to make sure you press these keys before the gray screen appears or it won’t work.
- Hold those keys down for about 20 seconds or until you see the Apple logo
- Let go of the keys and let your MBP reboot normally.
Note: When you log back in you may need to readjust some of your system preferences (e.g. speaker volume, screen resolution, startup disk selection, time zone information, etc).
Reset the SMC
- Shut down your MBP
- Press and hold the power button for at least 10 seconds
- Let go of the power button and wait 5 seconds
- Power up your MBP again
Once you've reset the NVRAM and SMC use your MBP as usual and monitor the charging. If you still feel it's not charging as it normally would, then reset the SMC again but with the following steps instead:
- Shut down your MBP
- Press and hold the right shift key and the left option and control keys for 7 seconds before then also pressing and holding the power button down for another 7 seconds (i.e. the keys will end up being held down for 14 seconds, the power button for 7 seconds)
- Let go of all three keys and the power button
- Wait 5 seconds
- Power up your MBP again